Presidential Term Limits: Political and economic effects of reelection in Latin America (1990-2010)

The subject of this dissertation is presidential term limits in Latin America (1990 - 2010). In contemporary presidential democracies there is a wide variation in how many times a president can run for reelection. In some countries presidents can be reelected for an unlimited number of terms; others allow presidents to be reelected for up to two consecutive terms; others establish that presidents must wait at least one or two terms before competing again for the presidential post; and others establish that presidents can be in office only for one term -- i.e. reelection is prohibited. The three papers comprising this dissertation seek to explore the relationship between these different presidential term limits provisions and political and economic outcomes in Latin America.